1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to a protective body heat retaining pod that is stored and transported in a folded up condition within a special purpose backpack so as to be readily accessible to a wearer who finds himself in or about to enter a cold water environment while awaiting rescue from an emergency situation. The protective pod creates a sealed chamber within which a small volume of water is trapped and heated by the wearer""s body heat to slow the onset of the effects of hypotherimia and thereby enable the wearer to survive his environment for a longer time.
2. Background Art
As may occur in an emergency situation, a civilian (e.g., a boater, a cruise ship passenger, a pilot, etc.) or a member of the military may find it necessary to abandon his boat or plane. In cases where a boat is at sea or an airplane is above a body of water, the individual may have to enter the water while awaiting rescue. Where the individual must enter a cold water environment wearing nothing more than a conventional life jacket, his body temperature will quickly drop to a level where survival becomes impossible if his rescue is delayed for a prolonged period of time.
My patent application Ser. No. 09/609,674 filed Jul. 3, 2000 disclosed a unique protective body heat retaining pod that is capable of slowing the effect of hypothermia and thereby prolonging the survivability of a civilian or military wearer who is fully immersed in a cold water environment. This protective pod is carried in a folded or rolled up condition within a containment envelope at the back of a personal floatation device (i.e., a life jacket). The pod containment envelope of the life jacket is formed by a series of flaps that are folded over one another to enclose the protective pod. A hood to be worn over the head of the wearer is stored in a rolled up condition within a fold-over collar that runs around the top of the life jacket. The wearer simply lifts up the collar to grab and remove the hood therefrom.
However, in some situations, it may be desirable to make the protective body heat retaining pod independent of the life jacket. Thus, conventional life jackets need not be altered when they are to be used in combination with my protective pod. It may also be desirable to make the hood an integral part of the protective body heat retaining pod, rather than have the hood carried separately under a collar of the life jacket. Therefore, a combination special purpose backpack and protective body heat retaining pod is disclosed below that offers modifications to the invention described in my original patent application so as to achieve the aforementioned objectives.
Disclosed below is a protective body heat retaining pod which is capable of significantly retarding the loss of a wearer""s body heat. The protective pod can be worn by a civilian or military seaman or airman who must enter a cold water environment while awaiting rescue from an emergency situation. The protective pod is preferably manufactured from a readily foldable, highly water resistant ripstop nylon material with a urethane backing. In this regard, and prior to its deployment, the protective pod is carried in a folded configuration within a special purpose backpack that is carried at the wearer""s back and is part of a harness to be worn over a conventional life jacket. The backpack has a top cover that is initially closed to prevent an inadvertent removal of the protective pod that is stored therein. A rip cord extends from an easily accessible handle that is located at the front of the harness to the top cover of the backpack. A tether extends from the handle to the protective pod that is folded within the backpack To deploy the protective pod, the wearer grasps and pulls on the handle. The pulling force is applied from the handle to each of the rip cord and the tether to cause the top cover to be opened and the protective pod to be removed from the backpack. The tether prevents the protective pod from floating away from the wearer in hard-to-see conditions following its removal from the backpack.
The wearer dons the protective body heat retaining pod by inserting his legs and torso into a body portion thereof. The wearer then inserts his arms through water-tight sleeves. A vertically extending, water tight zipper along the front of the body portion is zipped up to close the protective pod around the wearer. A hood that is attached to the back of the protective pod is placed over the wearer""s head and tightened around his face. A collar at the top of the body portion is wrapped around the wearer""s neck and attached to the front of the body portion to prevent outside water from reaching the interior of the pod. A resilient (e.g., bungee) cinching strap is laced in a criss-cross fashion between successive cord holders that run vertically along opposite sides of the body portion. By pulling upwardly on the free ends of the cinching strap, the bottom of the protective pod will be correspondingly pulled upwardly towards the wearer""s chest, while the sides of the protective pod will be pulled inwardly around the wearer""s legs and waist. By virtue of the foregoing, the wearer""s feet will be pulled up and held in a fetal position to facilitate body heat retention and reduce the volume of water that will be trapped within the body portion of the pod. Minimizing the volume of water trapped inside the protective pod directly enhances the ability of the wearer""s body heat to warm the water and slow a loss of the wearer""s body temperature, thus prolonging his survivability when immersed in a cold water environment while awaiting rescue.